# Self-image



## Furretsu (Jul 17, 2008)

As some of those of you who talk to me a lot know, I am going to a public school for the first time in my life. Long story short - failed Science last year, didn't want to go to summer school, can't continue with current private school.

Now comes the part that's entirely new to me - school clothes. I mean, this might sound really shallow and ridiculous, but I just _don't know what I want to look like_... if that makes any sense.

I could wear typical clothes - t-shirts, jeans, shorts, whatever. I could be, like, totally normal. I wouldn't stick out and I could fade into a corner for the next three years and be all set.

But... I've also wanted to experiment around with more eccentric clothing lately. Chains, jewelry, arm warmers, oddly-colored hair. Things like that. It would be give me a chance to express myself visually and I think I would enjoy something new a lot.

The problem? I'm enough of a self-conscious freak as it is. I just don't know what I should do. Maybe I should look for a comfortable medium or something. Anyone have any advice?


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## surskitty (Jul 17, 2008)

Go with whatever is most comfortable.  Wear whatever feels best.

I'd suggest wearing normal stuff for the first week or so of school until you can gauge some of what the reaction might be and _then_ add more interesting accessories.  The reason I'm saying this is that I've noticed at least something of a tendency for people to identify you by whatever they saw you wearing first.  there's this one guy who took about a year to finally start referring to me by something other than 'Ed' because I wore an FMA shirt on the first day of school ;;


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## Fer-Snazzle (Jul 17, 2008)

I say, wear whatever you want on a whim every morning. I mean, really, experimenting with clothing is _you_. It's reflecting the more curious parts of you personality, but...
I just think it's a good idea that you simply do whatever you want. Let people judge you -wtv.


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## Music Dragon (Jul 17, 2008)

Personally I like standing out and being different, which is why I wore a fez to my first day of school. And, as a comment on surskitty's post - there's this girl who called me "Fez" for three years afterwards.

Wear something different! Be extraordinary! Stand out! Don't let them get to you! Show them! Show them!


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## octobr (Jul 17, 2008)

So is going to a public school a good thing for you? I know you hated that private high school. 



> Chains, jewelry, arm warmers, oddly-colored hair.


You mean you want to shop out of hot topic. God that shit is horrible. 

Don't do it, man. You can find another way to stand out -- maybe... your personality? _there's a thought_ 

Actions should speak louder than the words on your t-shirt, sir.


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## Altmer (Jul 17, 2008)

Be like me and dress like whatever you wanted to wear this morning. I generally just dress casually at all times, t-shirt and jeans will do fine.


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## Erika (Jul 17, 2008)

I'm like Altmer. Just grabbed whatever in the morning, and slipped that on. ;P


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## Ambipom (Jul 17, 2008)

I just grab some clothes and but them on. I don't really care about what I wear.


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## #1 bro (Jul 17, 2008)

Once, I read an article in the paper about a seven year old kid that wears a coat and tie to school every day. You could always take a leaf out of his book. :D



edit: in all seriousness, go with surskitty


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## Dannichu (Jul 17, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> I could wear typical clothes - t-shirts, jeans, shorts, whatever. I could be, like, totally normal. I wouldn't stick out and I could fade into a corner for the next three years and be all set.


The only thing that'll let you fade into the background for three years is you. You could have the most outrageous hair/piercings/clothes/accessories ever and everyone'd stare at you for the first day, or maybe even week, but if you let yourself fade into the background after that, you would.

The trick is to let your personality stand out and let it be what you do and say that gets (and holds) attention, not what you're wearing.


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## Furretsu (Jul 18, 2008)

Altmer said:


> Be like me and dress like whatever you wanted to wear this morning. I generally just dress casually at all times, t-shirt and jeans will do fine.


Yes, but I'm a raging metrosexual.


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## Altmer (Jul 18, 2008)

AuroraKing said:


> Yes, but I'm a raging metrosexual.


So? You can dress t-shirt and jeans or something similar and still look like a raging metrosexual. :P

Though I won't deny I just don't care this much and wear my band t-shirts and shit everywhere unless it's like my grandparents I'm going to in which case I'll just wear a shirt lol


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## Furretsu (Jul 18, 2008)

haha I'll probably just go the band shirt & jeans route tbh


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## Eevee (Jul 18, 2008)

because if anything makes you stand out it's a band shirt!  I guess you could do http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/popculture/a5a2/

I wear crap like http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/sciencemath/9eec/ though so  :(


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## Ramsie (Jul 18, 2008)

I had a similar problem when I switched to public school. Just wear whatever you feel comfortable with. If that's a band T-shirt, go with that. If that's purple hair,  go with that. Just do whatever your comfortable with.


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## Dannichu (Jul 19, 2008)

Eevee said:


> because if anything makes you stand out it's a band shirt!  I guess you could do http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/popculture/a5a2/
> 
> I wear crap like http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/sciencemath/9eec/ though so  :(


I'm wearing their pi by numbers shirt right now. :D

It's a conversation starter if nothing else.


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## Crazy Linoone (Jul 19, 2008)

Really though. I'll say that you wear something normal on the first few days, and then you can do whatever else you want. And like Dannichu said...



Dannichu said:


> The only thing that'll let you fade into the background for three years is you. You could have the most outrageous hair/piercings/clothes/accessories ever and everyone'd stare at you for the first day, or maybe even week, but if you let yourself fade into the background after that, you would.
> 
> The trick is to let your personality stand out and let it be what you do and say that gets (and holds) attention, not what you're wearing.


If you stand out with your personality, people will actually notice you. And a bit of humor always help.


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## goldenquagsire (Jul 19, 2008)

I see no problems with merely fading into the background. As long as one can say "good morning" to the majority of one's classmates and expect a greeting in turn without sarcastic jeers or a Falcon Punch to the groin, is that not enough of a success in the precarious game of high school politics? But then, I've never been much of a socialite, so perhaps my aspirations are less than yours.

In any case, I wouldn't recommend any stunts, especially not on first meeting these people. The tags you earn in that first week or two will stay with you until you leave school. It isn't worth the hassle of years of unpopularity (and I don't refer to mere indifference and neutrality amongst your peers; I mean actual, virulent dislike bordering on hatred, which is what *will* happen if one attempts to stand out from the crowd and fails) just for the sake of nonconformity (which I have always believed to be a highly overrated quality, but that's a different rant altogether).

Not to say that one must be an exact replica of the standard model, but merely that one should keep one's head down. Dress modestly at first, garner a little positive approval and gauge the volatility of your peers; then, when you feel that you can approach them with something new, gradually try something a little more eccentric.

To quote the hackneyed but relevant cliché: _discretion is the better part of valour._


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## Grinning Calamity (Jul 20, 2008)

Lol, trust me, Fer-Snazzle is pretty good at not caring what others think of him.

But anyway, just go comfortable. Me, I just slap on shorts and a T-Shirt everyday.  If people give you a hard time about, just tell them you don't care. If you think that you're too boring that way, then get to know the people around you better first, then you can get more fancy later.


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## Vladimir Putin's LJ (Jul 20, 2008)

I don't know, I think you should just dress like you want when you want, really. I mean I'll often wear a black t-shirt one day and then a waistcoat/tie/smart trousers combo the next and then the band jacket that makes me look like I'm an airplane pilot wheee the next.

Just dress according to your mood :T


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